25 26 27 28 29 METALWORK AND MATERIAL CULTURE IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD Crill andJariwala 2010: 136-37, no 44. Cambridge MA, Fogg Art Museum; cf. Das 1994: 148-49. Translated by Bosworth 1973: 135-37. Bosworth,'Ghurids' (EF), with reference to Ibn al-Athir; cf. also Flood 2009: 94, quoting Bosworth. I have been unable to locate the relevant passage in Ibn al-Athir's Kamil, where the reports on the Ghurid campaigns against Ghazni, Herat and Lahore are concentrated sub annis 543, 545 and 54AH. Flood 2009. 154 7 PERSIANS ABROAD: THE CASE OF THE JAMI' MASJID OF GULBARGA ROBERT HILLENBRAND INTRODUCTION T he Jami' Masjid, or Friday Mosque, of Gulbarga in the Deccan,1 built by the Bahmani monarch Muhammad I (r.1358-75) in 769/1367, 2 but perhaps later modified,3 has of late achieved well-nigh iconic status among Islamic architectural historians. It owes this special position not to frequent visits by specialists or lengthy discussion in the scholarly literature, since it has received neither of these markers of importance. Instead, the key element in its rise to fame has been a single and often-republished image, namely a view of one or other of its side aisles with its dramatic transverse vaulting (Fig. 7.1). This sequence of ten arches in echelon, each one tucked into the one in front of it in steadily diminishing perspective, finds its natural vanishing point in the twin windows at the far end, which give out onto the landscape beyond. With their Promethean piers, improbably low springing, huge span, strongly marked stilt at the haunch with a crisp return and slightly ogee apex, these are arches not quickly forgotten, and indeed this justly famous view readily qualifies as a textbook example of architects' architecture. This article extends well beyond these somewhat over-exposed aisles, and will focus principally on the analysis of the mosque itself. 4 This analysis comprises four categories: the exterior; the concept of this mosque as totally enclosed; spatial factors; and the treatment of the dome chamber. It will end with a brieflook at the long reach of Persian culture in the medieval Deccan and at the broader regional context of the building. 5 155